May 5, 2011, Ep 10: All’s Fair in the Amazing Race?

The Amazing Race 18 Secret Scenes, Episode 10:  All’s Fair in the Amazing Race?

Emotional goths Kent & Vyxsin (pictured) beg to differ with that sentiment in their emotional moments on the Pit Stop with Phil, yet are they able to take some time and move on the next day?  The remaining teams all have their eyes on the final leg and one team observes that everyone left are all newbies when it comes to the final leg.  Who thinks they are the team to beat?  Is everyone on a level playing field now or are the claws just beginning to come out?  Read on for this and more!

Extra Race Footage

Featured Team:  Flight Time & Big Easy

Globetrotters Feeling Good:  Before the leg begins, Big Easy tells us that he & Flight Time consider themselves the best team left in the race even if they haven’t won that many legs.  Their average over the legs this time is about equal to a fourth-place finish and they plan on bumping that to at least a third-place finish so they can get into the final three.  They have noticed that Zev & Justin and Kisha & Jen have been the only racers left that haven’t really stumbled or been near the back.  Kent & Vyxsin had their issue in Japan, the Globetrotters were near the back during their double U-Turn, and Gary & Mallory were saved by a non-elimination leg.  He’s hoping someone else gets some bad luck, although he’s not wishing it on anyone.  Big Easy adds that they just plan on having fun and racing hard with a smile.  Although he loves the snowy scenery they’re racing in now, he hopes that there are some warm oceans in their future.

Featured Team:  Kisha & Jen

Jen’s Cool Adventure:  After finishing her rescue Detour, Jen is still in a state of amazement.  It wasn’t a crazy experience but it was definitely something she would have never done before nor will she probably ever get to do it again.  The cool thing about it was the rewarding feeling of getting to save someone, even if that person really wasn’t in trouble.  Kisha laughs and reminds us that Jen would have taken the clue and left the guy down there though if she had known he had it the whole time.  Jen gets a good laugh out of that but then sternly reminds Kisha she’s not supposed to bring that up.  Kisha adds that Jen weighs a lot more than she appears.

Featured Team:  Gary & Mallory

Before the Leg:  As Gary & Mallory wait for their time to start the leg, Mallory tells us that Kent & Vyxsin weren’t dressed for the snow at all.  They weren’t wearing hats and were wearing fingerless gloves.  She can’t see how they’re going to have fingers by the end of the leg.  Mallory laughs that while she & Gary are prepared, the clue will probably tell them to head to the desert!  There goes the advantage.  She points out that the Cowboys’ departure has tweaked the game as the Cowboys had been the team to beat.  She misses them and can’t wait to see them at the Finish Line.  Everyone who is left now has not made it to the final three before so it will be a new experience to everyone who gets there.  It’s not a bad thing as Mallory realizes that no team has an advantage over the other on how to race that last leg.

At the Pit Stop

Featured Team: Kent & Vyxsin (last place)

Goths on the Mat:  With Kent out of the frame, Vyxsin tells Phil that it was an upsetting frustrating leg.  She wishes she could tell Phil that she wishes everyone remaining the best but she saw a lot of true colors today.  It was ugly and upset her.  Kent has been badgering about how could they have misread the clue but Vyxsin admits her head is all over the place.  She is still just hurt and upset about the teams’ behavior.  She wants them to have a safe race but she isn’t excited for them to finish.  Although she lets Zev & Justin slide.

Phil asks what happened.  Vyxsin tells him that people were yelling at them and they were accused of stealing things.  She’s done everything she can to be polite the entire race and it really bothered her that the Globetrotters were yelling at her today.  Kent reappears from below which explains a lot of the rustling noises you could hear previously.  Vyxsin tells us that her feelings were hurt and Kent explains that she doesn’t do well with negativity.  Kent tells Phil about how the other teams were cat-calling and accusing her of stuff.  He says that they never point fingers at others or whine about others’ performance.  He goes on to say that teams were getting “as ghetto as possible.”  Hmm…

Phil wants to clarify if all the teams were acting like that to her.  Vyxsin admits that it was just some of them and that is why she’s still okay with cheering for Zev & Justin.  Phil asks what Kent was doing and responds that he was just cheering her on and trying to uplift her spirits.  He rightly notes that at this point in the race, many teams are getting quite tense, perhaps too tense for their own good.  

As for their final mistake, Phil wants to know if they take responsibility for not reading the clue.  Vyxsin admits that the clue was extremely clear and that it was obvious they were supposed to go on foot.  They just didn’t see it.  It’s not something they wanted to happen, but they’re proud and happy with how far they made it.  Kent is just excited to see who gets eliminated next. 

After the Race

Featured Team: Gary & Mallory

Mallory Appreciates Chocolate:  Mallory loved chocolate before but now after having made a colorful chocolate gnome, she pledges to use a knife and fork if she ever gets a fancy chocolate figurine in the future.  She concedes that there are probably factories that actually construct the chocolates and not someone hand-painting a mold, but she still has an enhanced appreciation for the “chocolate she’s shoving in her mouth all the time.”  As the Roadblock observer, Gary tells us that he didn’t eat any food today during the leg but that they did get to snack on lots of chocolates.  Mallory was so paranoid about breaking rules though that she couldn’t remember if she was allowed to eat any of the chocolate herself.  Not until the end of the challenge did she start sneaking tastes and once she realized she wasn’t going to be penalized, she went to town.  That was when Gary started yelling at her to finish her gnome and stop eating the chocolate.  Oh, Mallory, you crack me up.

Featured Team: Kisha & Jen

Outside Looking In:  Jen thinks that Kent & Vyxsin were outsiders to the group but that it was their own doing.  Everyone else was making friends with the other teams and eventually helping others out during rough patches.  But the will to help Kent & Vyxsin wasn’t there as they had isolated themselves.  Jen can’t say that playing like that was bad or wrong as Kent & Vyxsin did get pretty far, but to each his own.  Kisha recognizes that she & Jen were similar in keeping to themselves during their first race but Kent & Vyxsin took it to the next level.  Jen lists one of her pet peeves about them which is them wearing sunglasses indoors.  She explains that she has an issue with anyone who wears sunglasses inside where there’s no sun to block.  Kisha just laughs as Jen continues on that the word sunglasses has the key word “sun” in it.

Featured Team: Flight Time & Big Easy

Globetrotters Give Respect:  Big Easy has a lot of respect for people who not only go out to save others, but also for the fact that they do it in such cold and unforgiving conditions.  He laughs that even when he was just following one of the guides he was already stumbling and falling.  Flight Time thinks that there’s an athletic endurance that these Swiss rescuers have built up much like members of the Denver Nuggets have in that they are acclimated to the altitude.  It’s still an impressive and amazing thing that the rescuers do.  He also admires those who like to climb mountains like this or like Everest.  It’s definitely not something he can see himself doing regularly, but he still respects it.

Featured Team: Kent & Vyxsin

Goths’ Goodbye:  Through all the sadness and loss that both Kent & Vyxsin have experienced over the last few years, Vyxsin tells us that she feels much closer to Kent.  They’ve had to lean on each other and support each other so much that she thinks that they’ve become a might tighter unit.  Vyxsin thinks that their families would be proud of both of them as 10 legs isn’t anything to shake a stick at for misfits like them.  When their families get to see this, Vyxsin doesn’t think their families will be surprised to see when they make silly mistakes.   She bets that they’ll just laugh and give them a hug when they watch them misread the clue and get eliminated.  Sure!

Kent explains that both he & Vyxsin don’t look at the world in black and white, where there’s just winning and losing.  They’re looking at the experience as a journey and not as a specific destination to get to.  They successfully beat their performance from their first race and they also managed to fight their way through their many mistakes and misfortunes.  They outlasted many strong competitors and survived 10 legs, a feat not many teams have proven they can do. 

Featured Team: Zev & Justin

Zev & Justin Size Up the Competition:  Justin considers the other three teams in the final four all very strong and ones that they get along with.  The Globetrotters are their closest friends and they’ve helped each other out numerous times along the way.  He wouldn’t be surprised to see them go all the way.  Of all the teams, Justin is most weary of them due to the sheer competitive drive they have.  Regarding Kisha & Jen, Justin notes that they are one of the only teams that hasn’t skated by or been saved by a fluke of luck.  Kisha & Jen have been in the middle to front of the pack nearly the whole race, and he thinks that they have the strongest combination of smarts and physicality over the rest of the teams.

With Gary & Mallory, Justin rightly points out that they did lose in Austria so they are beatable.  Of the teams left, he wants them in the final three.  He does love them though as they are nice and friendly, and that would be another reason to have them at the end.  Frankly Justin thinks that Gary & Mallory are the biggest surprise in still being around for the final four.  Regardless, all the teams deserve to be here at the end. 

Phil’s Video Diary

Episode 10 – Zermatt, Switzerland:  Phil is up bright and early and headed on a two-hour drive up the mountain to the helicopter terminal.  He explains they’re headed up to film their Detour clips as the pilot gets everything checked out and Barry the Sound Guy climbs aboard.  We get treated to more dramatic views from the helicopter of the staggeringly gorgeous Alpine mountain scenery.  It reminds me a lot of helicopter ride I took in Juneau, Alaska up to a glacier in those dramatic mountains.  It’s quite an exhilarating experience to not only ride in a helicopter but to be confronted with such natural splendor.  

Once they get to the landing site, Phil tells us that he’s been instructed to wait a bit to move until the helicopter leaves.  Now that the helicopter disruption is gone, they can meet up with their guide who is busy chewing on some salami.  We then get treated to Phil’s introductory Detour clip.  After that, Phil is sitting in a gondola heading down the mountain.  It’s just around 2pm and Phil admits it’s time to eat. 

Hobie Barnes now lives in Santa Monica, California after enjoying the hectic Manhattan life for 3.5 years.  When not busy fighting the 405 and 101 freeways on the commute to Burbank, he is patiently waiting for an Amazing Race or Survivor scout to cast him!  He can be reached at <a href=”mailto:hobiewan76@gmail.com”>hobiewan76@gmail.com</a>.

 

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